MINNEAPOLIS – Attorneys in Minneapolis have filed a lawsuit against an Arizona produce company and Sam’s Club over tainted cantaloupe.
So far, three people in the U.S. – two from Minnesota and five in Canada – have died from salmonella poisoning linked to the outbreak.
Ray Trueblood is an attorney with Pritzker Hageman and said a lawsuit was their only choice.
“If companies that prepare and sell food to the public aren’t going to put safety first, the only thing we can do is pursue civil remedies under the civil justice system,” Trueblood said.
He said they expect there are many more cases still out there.
“I hope that anyone out there that has been affected doesn’t just turn a blind eye,” Trueblood said. “Because if they do, the results are that this company has gotten a slap on the wrist and they don’t have any real incentive to clean up their act.
Trublood said his firm filed the suit in Florida after a 3-year old was hospitalized for days after getting sick from eating the melons.
“Unfortunately for families like my client’s family, it turns out that unless proper sanitation is followed, and the safest practices, these fresh fruits and vegetables can end up causing horrendous infections if adaquete steps aren’t taken by food producers,” Trueblood explains.
The lawsuit charges the produce company Trufresh with “failing to prevent fecal matter and other contaminants from coming into contact with the cantaloupe and other food products.”
Trufresh did announce they are recalling all sizes of fresh cantaloupes packaged in cardboard containers labeled with the “Malichita” label.
Last month, Hornbacher’s in Fargo and Moorhead recalled Malichita brand cantaloupe.
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